


The Autumn Of Tumblr

by justlook3



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Autumn, Content Varies By Prompt, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Kissing, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-27
Packaged: 2018-08-19 14:24:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8211694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justlook3/pseuds/justlook3
Summary: A collection of Autumn tumblr prompts.





	1. Crunching Leaves

**Author's Note:**

> I'm taking autumn themed Jassandra prompts over on my tumblr http://justlook3.tumblr.com/post/151264724456/autumn-fic-meme  
> This first one is for Imagination_Parade who wanted "crunching leaves."

The leaves crunched under Jacob Stone's feet as he wandered through the woods, the only other sounds those of birds and the occasional insect.  The last mission had been harrowing and they were lucky to have made it out without serious injuries.  Their Guardian had borne the brunt of it, now out of commission for a while with a broken arm. None of them had emerged completely unscathed, even their resident lucky thief had had to get stitches.  Jacob had to as well, but his most visible injury was the black, blue and yellow marks under his left eye.

This was why he was here, in the silence of the woods.  He'd had the habit ever since he was small when he'd run away to his secret hiding place in the woods back behind his house.  He'd store his books back there and read until the sun set.  Even into adulthood when the world became too much to bear, he'd take a ramble, get lost for a while clearing his head.

The forests of Oregon were magnificent and a day off after a mission often included a walk to clear his head.  Usually before he went back to the Library to lose himself in his passions, free from judgmental eyes.   But today was a good day to cleanse off everything that happened yesterday.  Forget about the pain in his face, Baird's gruesome (though thank God it looked worse than it actually was) injury, Jones' looking his age as opposed to how he usually acted and Cassandra . . .Cassandra so brave yet so pale, covered in blood only some of which had been hers.

He'd been lost in his thoughts, letting himself walk on autopilot.  He'd chosen a path that he'd been down more than once, not wanting to get lost as he lost himself.   But then he realized he'd somehow taken the right fork instead of the left.  Well the path was straight enough, he'd walk down aways and then turn back.  Paying attention now, he walked forward, taking in the beauty of the trees.  Just up ahead was a clearing where he intended to turn back.

What he found at the clearing made him stop dead.  A little cabin stood in the clearing, well kept, cheerful yellow curtains at the windows.  It wasn't all that startling to find cabins or shelters in these woods.  Most of them were quiet, so abandoned, but this one seemed full of life.  That wasn't what made him stop dead.  A woman was standing on the cabin's little porch,  leaning on the rail, looking off into the distance.  Her back was to him, but he knew that woman anywhere.   Red hair curling down over her shoulders, knee socks with cute red boots,  short denim overalls over a long sleeve purple shirt and he imagined if he could see her fully some cute little pins or other jewelry.   Here in the woods that he'd come to forget, he'd found Cassandra.

His foot crunched some leaves and gravel and with a start the woman on the porch turned around.  She gasped when she saw him her hand over her heart.

"Jacob?  What are you doing here?"

He grinned. "Could ask you the same thing darlin'."

"This is my cabin," she said motioning toward it. "I didn't know anyone knew about it. Well, I told Colonel Baird just in case I was here and no one could reach me. The cell service is a little spotty."

"I didn't know about it.  I come to the woods when I have things on my mind."

She nodded, a solemn expression on her face for a moment. "Yeah, me too. That's why I'm here. Do you . . .do you want to come in?  I have lemonade."

He shrugged. "Sure."

Her cabin was tiny, not much more than a room.  There was a neat little bed and a tiny kitchen and a little table with two benches.  She didn't have a fridge, just a cooler packed with ice and bottles of lemonade and water.  Out the window he finally saw her car, parked a little ways away, just off a dirt road that he didn't realize was there.

"How did you find this place?" he asked.

"I came to the woods to think too.  Probably are shocked, me being a city girl and all.  But I really loved the fresh air here and I stumbled across this place one day.  It was for sale, so I bought it. It's not much but it's a good place to retreat."

It hadn't escaped Jacob that while she talked she'd avoided looking at him.  He knew why so when she finally came to sit across from him at the table, her eyes trained on her bottle of lemonade, he reached out and touched her hand.

"Hey, look at me," he stared at her until she reluctantly raised her head.  He touched his face. "This ain't your fault."

"Jacob, you took that for me!  How is it not my fault?"

"Cassie, we're a team, right?  It's not just one Librarian, any more. We're the Librarians, plural.  We stick up for one another and we protect each other.  I'd gladly take that blow for any of you, any day of the week."

"Even though . . . ."

He sighed heavily. "Thought we were passed that.  Ain't I shown you that I trust you?"

"Yes, I guess . . .I guess believing in that is hard for me. Believing in myself. Still. After all this time."

He nodded. "It is for me too.  Still. After all this time.  I hear my old man calling me . . . .Never mind. The thief's the only one of us who is completely confident most of the time. And even he had a hard time this outing."

"Yeah, yesterday was scary."

"Yeah, it was. But hey, we're all mostly in one piece, huh?"

She nodded and they lapsed into silence for a while, drinking their lemonade.  Then Cassandra spoke, "if you ever wanna borrow the cabin, I can get you a set of keys."

"I'll think about it.  I should probably be headin' out, daylight's gonna fade soon."

"I can give you a ride back to the trail head if you want, I should be getting home myself."

"That's mighty nice of you, Cassandra, I'll take you up on it."

"That'll give you a little more time to sit here with me," Cassandra blushed. "That is if you'd like.  The sunset is gorgeous through the window."

Jacob looked over at her and got up from his seat.  She looked a little disappointed for a moment until he sat down once more next to her. "Easier to see the sunset from this side, I reckon."

She smiled and nodded, choosing not to comment on how close he was sitting to her.  And neither said a thing a few minutes later when his arm went from being slung over the back of the bench to being around her shoulders.  All Cassandra did was lay her head on his shoulder as the sunset behind the pines.

 The End

 

 


	2. Pumpkin Spice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pumpkin spice as requested by angellwings

"Jacob?" Cassandra came bouncing around a corner, looking for him, an air of excitement about her. "Jacob?"

"What?" Jacob asked, mimicking her tone. 

She playfully rolled her eyes at him. "I need you to do me a favor," she put on her most adorable face, eyes that he was powerless to say no to.

He rolled his own eyes and looked at his . . . well girlfriend wasn't quite the right term for someone you'd been on two dates with and kissed once . . .so the girl he was seeing.  "What is it you need?"

"Well, you know how my car is in the shop . . . ."

It really wasn't like Cassandra not to get to the point so he sighed. "And you need me to drive you to . . . ."

"Starbucks!"

"Starbucks?  We have a good coffee machine in the kitchen.  Besides, you don't even drink coffee."

"Well no, not as a general rule but its pumpkin spice season.  And I'm craving a pumpkin spice latte.  Please Jacob?"  She batted her eyelashes.

"Oh for the love of . . . . Okay, let's go."

They seemed to have hit an afternoon rush of people on their coffee breaks.  It was still far too warm in Jacob's eyes for anything autumn to begin with.  Let alone a syrupy sugary substance that was going to cause Cassandra to bounce off walls.

He reluctantly stood in line with her, ordering a caffe Americano to avoid being a complete stick in the mud in the sea of various flavored concoctions.  She also ordered a cookie and he ordered a scone, might as well have what he actually did like at Starbucks.  

Finally their drinks were ready and Cassandra led them to a small corner table.  They mostly drank and ate in silence, though Cassandra giggled when she got whipped cream on her nose.

She took her time with her coffee and Stone was getting impatient.  He'd finished his drink and his scone and really didn't want to be there much longer.

"We can go if you'd like," Cassandra said, putting the lid on her latte.

"Yes, thank you."

They strolled down the street toward where Jacob had parked.  Cassandra, already feeling the effects of the latte, was skipping along.   Jacob laughed at her.

"What?" she asked.

"You.  I never really got the appeal of those drinks, but you seem very bouncy and happy so maybe they're not so bad."

Cassandra took another sip and said, "well would you like to try some?"

He smirked at her. "I reckon I just might."

Cassandra went to hand over her cup, but he leaned in and kissed her instead.  She gave a little noise of surprise but managed to keep her cup from spilling.  They were near Stone's car, so he broke the kiss briefly to take the cup out of her hands and set it on his trunk before pulling her back into him.  She grinned against his lips before sliding her arms around his neck.

She tasted sweet and a tiny bit spicy, the warm flavors of her latte lingering in her mouth.  But he decided he'd much rather taste Cassandra plus coffee than the latte itself.

They broke apart after a few minutes, the noise of traffic reminding them that they were after all in public.

"So," Cassandra asked when she caught her breath. "What's the verdict on the pumpkin spice latte?"

"Well, I think I like the taste, but I'm thinking we go back to my place and do some more research on my couch.  What do you think?"

She smirked back at him. "Sounds exactly like my kind of lab work."

The End

 


	3. Raking Leaves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Raking leaves" as requested by angellwings

Cassandra sat on the back steps of her boyfriend's little rental house, nursing a hot cocoa and watching him raking leaves in his small backyard.   It had only one tree, but it was a big one and it produced a number of leaves.

The big pile he was producing made her think of long ago fall days when she'd look out her window and see the kids in the neighborhood playing in the piles.  She'd only been let go join in a few times and that was when she'd been very young, well before her studies had completely taken over her life.

Stone looked up from his chore and grinned at her, thinking about how fetching she looked in her red plaid skirt and scarf.  Cassandra always made him think of Autumn no matter what season it was.  She just looked perfect right where she was, on his steps, in his house, in his life.

But his tender musings were cut short when suddenly a red headed blur raced past him launching herself into the pile of leaves he'd so carefully arranged.

"What the hell?  Cassie? Whatcha doin'?"

"Jumping in the leaves!"  came the voice of his girlfriend though he couldn't actually see her.

"Okay, maybe the question should have been why?"

"Why not?"

Okay, maybe she had him there.  Given her childhood, he wondered if that was something she'd ever been allowed to do.

"Now I'm gonna have to do this all over."

"Oh, I'll help you.  Come on though, don't you wanna jump in the pile too? You know you want to." A leaf covered head poked up, looking at him with big eyes.

He studied her for a moment before putting down his rake.  Next thing she knew, she was being propelled backward once more by him pouncing right on her.

She laughed, delighted.

"Okay, you're right, this is my kinda fun right here," Jacob said from above her just before their lips met.

The kiss was warm and deep and Cassandra wanted to sink into it.  But she had an impish streak and as one of Jacob's hands slipped down from her waist, probably intending to sneak down to the hemline of her skirt, she tossed a handful of leaves from behind her on his head.

"Hey!"

She giggled, rolling out of his embrace.  He threw a handful of leaves back at her and soon they were racing around the backyard like children, having a leaf war.

Finally he caught her at the back steps, both slightly out of breath.  He grabbed her around the waist and she giggled.

"Oh no, what are you going to do with me?" she asked, pouting for effect.

"I should put ya in leaf jail.  Or make you clean up this mess."

She nodded. "Well, it is my fault."

"But I think," Jacob leaned down and captured her lips with his. When they parted on a sigh, he said "we leave the cleanup for tomorrow and we go inside and um warm up."

She chuckled, a twinkle in her eye. "It is chilly out here."

"Then the bed sounds like the best place for us."

"Race ya!" Cassandra yelled, running into the house.

Stone just laughed and ran after her.

 

The End

 


	4. Knitting a Scarf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jucys01 requested "knitting a scarf."

Life was so busy at the Library and Stone often so private, that Cassandra didn't find out his birthday was in November until she'd nearly known him a year.  Though she reflected, a gift from her on his last birthday probably would not have welcomed.  They'd come such a very long way.  Now they were firmly friends, maybe even dipping into the something more category.  They'd certainly flirted and there was the maybe possible almost date that they hadn't actually gone on.  Life after all, was crazy at the Library.

But she felt like a gift from her, especially for someone who'd come to mean as much as Jacob had, should be special.  One night, racking her brain and not being able to sleep, she'd wandered to a crafting channel on YouTube.  Knitting had appealed to her.  Jacob was fond of scarves and probably would be receptive of one from her.  Knitting was math after all. 

So she'd watched a few videos, found a book at the local non-magical library and then gone to a cute little knitting shop to buy supplies.  All of the colors had fascinated her.   But she reigned herself in.  Jacob was simple in his dress; a multicolored scarf probably wouldn't be his thing.  Also as a beginner, maybe that would be too complicated to start with.  Maybe she did take more time than was strictly necessary choosing just the right yarn in a color that she knew would bring out his eyes.   And if she did, it was because she wanted him to love this gift and not because she'd spent any time thinking about his eyes or what colors would bring them out.

She found a small nook in an infrequently used part of the Library for her supplies and stole away there as often as she could, working away at the scarf.  It took her some time, both because she was a beginner and because well . . . Library.  But with a few days to go before Stone's birthday, his scarf was nearly finished.  She'd stole down to her nook that afternoon, promising herself that this was the day she was going to finish this scarf.  Even if she had to clean up a row she'd messed up the previous week when her mini clippings book had distracted her from her task.

Stone had taken up wandering the halls of the Library whenever he wasn't needed or was working on one of his other projects.  The building held so many wonders that he never knew exactly what he was going to find. 

This little wander hadn't really turned up anything of interest to him. Plenty of books, but not in subjects that appealed to him personally.  He was thinking of turning around and heading back to the Annex and a cup of coffee when he heard a soft sound coming from around the corner.  He stopped dead, listening for it.  There it was again, it sounded like a snore. 

Cautiously he crept around the corner and then stopped dead again, this time a soft smile creeping across his face instead of the concern of earlier.  Cassandra was curled up in on a sofa in a small nook, her head tilted back and soft snores moving the one red curl that had fallen in her face.   A red scarf was splayed across her body and one hand still held on to a knitting needle, the other having fallen onto her lap.

He must have made a noise because Cassandra suddenly sprung awake.  She stared at him, looking confused and then what seemed to be dismay crossed her features as she looked down at the scarf.

"Oh, no," she said.

"What's wrong?" he asked, keeping his voice soft.

"You weren't supposed to see this yet! It was a surprise."

"The scarf?" Jacob asked perplexed.

She nodded.

Then realization dawned, his birthday.  Of course.  Cassandra liked to put a bit of her in her gift giving.

"It's a mighty nice scarf, Cassandra, one of my favorite colors too."  He sat next to her on the little sofa. "I didn't know you knitted."

She blushed. "I . . . this is my first project.  I fell asleep but it's actually done, well will be when I finish this row."

Jacob grinned at her and motioned at the scarf.  Cassandra picked up the discarded knitting needle and counting under her breath, she started again.  She concentrated on what she was doing, to avoid messing up, so she didn't see the soft fond look on Jacob's face as he watched her.

A few minutes later, she held it out to him.  "There it's done.  Happy early birthday."

"Thank you, darlin'," he took the scarf from her. "Wow, this is so soft."

"I know, I've enjoyed making it, it was nice to touch . . . ." She blushed.

After that they lapsed into slightly awkward silence.  Finally Jacob broke it. "While this was real sweet of ya, Cassie, you didn't have to get me anything for my birthday."

"I wanted to.  You . . . all of you deserve to have your special days marked."

He grinned. "I know. And I love it, I do.  But what I'd really like for my birthday is . . . ." he took a deep breath and mentally crossed his fingers. "A few hours alone with you."

"A few hours alone with me . . . ." Cassandra looked a little confused.

"I'd like . . ."Jacob paused collecting his thoughts. "How about a pint?"

Cassandra laughed, now understanding. "I don't know about a pint after . . . but how about I make you dinner?"

"It's a date," he grinned and leaned across the sofa, brushing a kiss against her cheek. "I was gonna go make coffee, wanna join me?"

She nodded and let him pull her up.  And when he showed up at her house on his birthday, he wore the scarf.


	5. Corn Maze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For rogueprincessdanie who asked for corn maze

Cassandra had a solo mission to save a small town in Wisconsin's fall festival from being overrun by enchanted rodents.  It was actually a fairly simple mission that involved retrieving a magical pipe from a six year old who'd taken it from his grandmother's attic (she in turn having gotten it years before and had no idea of its usage) and a decidedly not magical cat named Casper. Casper was, however, exceptionally good at catching mice and was hailed as a hero by the townsfolk.  Cassandra couldn't help getting involved in the cleanup involved in getting the festival back on track.  The next thing she knew, she'd been charged with recreating the corn maze.  The original blueprint had somehow gotten lost and the usual designer had been called out of town.  So they were clearly in a pickle.

Stone wasn't sure how exactly he'd been roped into this.  He wasn't even involved in the mission.  But there was something about his inability to resist Cassandra when she turned on the charm and the puppy dog eyes.  Besides he at least had been to similar fairs with corn mazes whereas she had never been.

Work on the ground had gotten frustrating as they argued over the design so they found themselves in the Annex with a sheet of drawing paper intended to draw out the design.

"Cassandra, I keep telling ya, you're makin' it too hard!"

"Well, everything you keep saying is way too easy. I could find my way out of that in my sleep."

Jacob sighed. "You just don't get it."

"What don't I get?"

"Not everyone has a brain like ya, darlin'.  This corn maze in particular needs to appeal to the lowest common denominator.   Like . . ."And Stone pointed at Jones who had just wandered into the room. "Like Jones over there!"

"Hey!" Jones said insulted though he hadn't heard all of Stone's words so he was unclear why he should be insulted.

"Oh," Cassandra looked over at Jones. "Ezekiel is you were designing a corn maze, what shape would it be?"

"What's a corn maze?" Jones looked perplexed.

Stone rolled his eyes but then figured they probably didn't have such things in Australia.

"Nevermind Jones. Um, if you were designing a hedge maze what would you draw it as."

"Well it's corn, why don't you make it corn shaped?"

Stone groaned. "See?  Also not helping."

"Hmm, corn . . . " Cassandra mused.  "Oh wait!  How about  . . . ." she started giggling. "A cat and a mouse!"

Stone laughed. "Perfect."

The festival turned out to be a great success thanks in large part to Cassandra (who was largely unsung as she liked it) and Casper who went from barn cat to everyone in town's pet over night.  And Stone, who wasn't sure how he  got roped into this in the first place, was sitting on a wall with Cassandra watching everyone enjoying their corn maze.   And when she offered him a bite of her funnel cake, the look in her eyes was exactly why he was there.

The End


	6. Halloween Costumes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one combines two prompts "Matching Halloween Costumes" from murmaider and "Homemade Halloween costumes" from xyalovegood.

Stone sighed as he went through his closet.  Cassandra had roped all of her co-workers into attending a Halloween costume party for charity. Flynn had backed her up, noting that the Library had done lots of community outreach via it's Metropolitan Library cover in New York and that they should start doing similar things in Portland.   And honestly Stone wouldn't have minded going to this particular party if he hadn't been made to dress up.  Cassandra also had stipulated that they had to make their own costumes or put them together from items they already owned.  Then the money they might have spent on costumes could go to the charity.  It was a nice sentiment but he really was drawing a blank.  Finally upon rummaging he found his old cowboy hat.  Not his favorite one that was probably still in a lost and found box back at Duke's  but an older beat up brown one.  This was probably lazy as hell but then he'd waited until an hour before they were going to meet up to even look at costumes.

Flynn and Baird were already waiting in the Annex when Stone arrived.  They'd opted to don the clothes they'd worn when they were trapped in the past.  Possibly an odd choice, given everything, but they made for perfect Halloween costumes.

"Authentic and we didn't have to spend a dime on it," Flynn grinned. "Um, nice uh hat."

Baird shook her head. "Didn't try very hard did ya, Stone? I mean I at least have to wear a corset, that's torture enough for charity."

"I'm here," Cassandra said, bouncing in. "I had to look in the wardrobe room for this hat."  Jacob narrowed his eyes slightly at the thought.  He never thought to look at the wardrobe room, that would have counted. _Stupid._

Then he got a good look at her and his mouth opened.  She was wearing a white blouse trimmed with yellow and a blue and cowhide patterned skirt.  She was wearing brown cowboy boots, her hair braided into a single braid tied with a yellow ribbon and a red cowboy hat on her head.  A cowgirl?

"Oh my gosh Stone!" she giggled. "You're Woody!"

 _Woody?_   He looked a little confused.  He'd grabbed a yellow plaid shirt from his closet to go with his standard jeans and cowboy boots.  To cowboy things up a little, he'd tied a red bandana around his neck.  _Wait, Woody . . .he knew that from somewhere_.

"I'm Jessie!"  Cassandra stared at him and his confusion. "Um, you are Woody right?"

"Um. . .oh! Toy Story!" Stone laughed. "Well, sure let's go with that."

"That's so cool!"

"Nice save," muttered Baird just as Jones waltzed in.

The Australian started laughing as he saw Stone and Cassandra.

"Ain't ya sweet," he said in a very bad imitation of some Southern accent.  Stone looked him over, the thief was wearing jeans and a dark blue shirt.  Nothing about him seemed different except his hair which was styled a little like his usual style.

Stone narrowed his eyes. "Shut up Jones, you ain't even got a costume."

"Oh but I do," Jones said, going back to his regular accent. "Jeans, boring shirt, spiky hair." He pointed down to his feet, "boots.  Now who ya'll reckon I am?"

Cassandra suddenly lifted her hands to her mouth, trying and not succeeding to hide her giggles.  Baird put a hand on Stone's arm as his lifted almost as of it's own accord.  Flynn looked confused.

"I don't get it," he stage whispered to Jenkins who had elected to stay home.

"Ah, Mr. Carsen, I'm sure Mr. Jones will enlighten you on the way. " He rolled his eyes, "perhaps in the future Mr. Jones, you might wish to impersonate some super hero or member of the Kardashian clan."

"Let's go," Baird said, taking her hand off of Stone who just glared at the thief.

Ezekiel shot them both a devil may care smile and sauntered up to Cassandra. "You're lookin' mighty fine tonight, Miss Cassandra."  He offered his arm, which she took with another giggle.

* * *

 

Stone was increasingly torn between getting drunk and punching Jones' lights out.  All night long the boy had been floating in Cassandra's orbit, standing where Stone himself usually stood.  He flirted shamelessly with her and when he wasn't, he was staring dreamily at the girl.  Stone didn't know what the thief's angle was but he'd had enough.

Finally he pulled Ezekiel away from Cassandra by his elbow.  Neither noticed Cassandra following behind them as Stone dragged him behind a wall.

"What the hell man?  What are ya doin'?"

"I'm doing you, mate! "

"I don't sound like that."

"Okay, I'll give you that.  But you **do** stand inches away from Cassandra, you **do** flirt with her and you **do** stare at her."

"I don't . . . ."Stone's voice trailed off as he fought between denying it and the truth.

"You do! So do something about it!" Ezekiel rolled his eyes.  "And now if you'll excuse me, I see some birds over by the bar that I would like to talk to now that I'm done doing your job."

Stone groaned and slammed his hand against the wall where Jones had been standing.  That's when a throat cleared.  He turned and looked.  Cassandra was standing there.

"You heard that," he said simply.

"Yeah, um, I've been putting two and two together all night.  Ever since he started up.  Can we go outside and talk?"

Stone sighed and nodded.  This was the part where a girl let him down easy.  He knew the path well though this was the first time it had happened with a girl who knew the real him.

They got to a quiet place outside and Cassandra turned to him. "I don't know where to start."

"Just go ahead and say it, Cassie.  I understand."

Cassandra looked confused for a moment and then studied his face in the porch lights. "Jacob . . .you think I'm about to tell you that . . . ."

She laughed and he looked even more confused.  That's when she surprised him again by walking up to him and kissing him.  He was surprised for just a moment and then he kissed her back, putting his arms around her.

"I like you too, Jacob Stone."

Jacob just laughed and kissed her again. They never made it back to the party.


	7. First Frost/Cozy Night In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For drawingfan007 who wanted "First Frost/Cozy Night In".  
> This is a sequel to chapter 1 "Crunching Leaves" and is also for PyreWrites who gave me the idea in a comment.

It was a chilly afternoon, the weatherman had said to expect the first frost that evening.  Bundled up in a beanie and a flannel shirt, Stone didn't really mind as he trudged the now familiar path through the woods.  A case was on his mind as it usually was when he came to this part of the woods, heading for Cassandra's cabin.

The case itself was as normal as their cases ever were.  Sure they'd faced some danger but it was nothing that they couldn't get out of.  No, the reason why Stone came to the woods this time was a much more personal one.  And possibly her cabin wasn't the best location to think about Cassandra, but it was secluded and quiet.  Besides, she'd gone off with Jones afterward so he knew the chance of running into her there was slim.

She hadn't been in danger this case, or at least not a particular one.  She hadn't passed out or been overwhelmed.  No, Cassandra had been Cassandra.  Cassandra who had once thought she was invisible yet drew the notice of everyone in a room.  Or maybe she really didn't. She'd always drawn his notice, from the moment he met her, back when she still held herself so small and tried to blend into the walls. But on this particular case, someone else had noticed her.  What was worse, unlike many cases (an Italian heiress being one), Cassandra had more than noticed the man's interest and had seemed to return it.  She'd blush and grin shyly and he was pretty sure she'd giggled once or twice.  Every time it was like a knife twisting in Stone's gut.  And he wasn't sure why.  Good for Cassandra, she was beautiful and charming and cute and adorable and everyone should want to be in her orbit.

Stone reached the cabin before he'd even realized it.  He went around back to start up the generator then unlocked the door with the key she'd given him. Once inside he sat on the edge of the bed, lost in thought about why he'd been so upset about Cassandra making a new friend.

* * *

 

Cassandra was humming as she packed up her car.  Jones had gotten her some English chocolates from a "friend" of his and she was adding them to her supplies for a cozy night in up at her cabin.  The case had been pretty run of the mill, except for the charming young man at the coffee shop.  She'd kept his number, but obviously him living in Maine was a big drawback to any sort of even friendship. Still she hung on to it.  There was another man she'd have preferred to have interest in her, but after that one afternoon up in the cabin when he'd touched her innocently, he'd been keeping everything strictly friends.  He'd taken her offer of sharing the cabin, but otherwise . . . .It was just as well, Baird and Flynn's working romance was awfully rocky for example.  Maybe it was better she and Stone stayed as really good friends.

She shook her head and went back to work. No thinking about that.  She added a cozy blanket, some other snacks, a thermos of hot chocolate and a stack of books.  There, a good stash for curling up and unwinding. The case may have been run of the mill but there had been several lately and she needed a night to herself.

She pulled up to the cabin and went around to power up the generator. That was odd, it was already running.  The cabin itself was dark.  Great, so either she or Stone had forgotten to shut it off on their last trip. She hoped it still had enough to get it through the night.  The gas gauge said it was good, so she breathed a sigh of relief. Oddly it should have been lower than that.  Well maybe Stone had refilled it the last time and she hadn't realized.

She decided to get the lights on and the heat adjusted before she came in with her stuff.  She walked around to the front of the cabin and was walking up the steps when she heard a voice.

She froze.  The voice didn't seem to be addressing her directly. And she could hear movement now inside. But the lights weren't on.  Her heart started beating faster and she forced herself to breathe and listen.

"Get it together.  It's not like you're together.  She has every right to date whoever she wants."

Stone's voice. Her breath went out in relief.  But why was he in there in the dark?  And who was he talking about?

"What am I going to do?" the voice from within asked what she supposed was the air. "I'm in love with her.  But I've made such a mess of things, it's obvious she doesn't feel the same way.  And we got Baird and Flynn maybe making her think we can't have a workplace relationship. Even though those two are crazy about each other. It's just weird."

At the door, Cassandra let out a noise like a squeak.  She'd been trying to be quiet but the reality that he was talking about her hit her like a ton of bricks. The movement inside suddenly froze and then the footsteps moved toward the door.  Cassandra froze, unable to move as the door suddenly opened.

They gaped at each other like fish until she was able to move a hand past him and click on the light.

"Cass . . .I wow, uh . . . ."

"You're in love with me?" she blurted out, staring at him.

Stone blinked at her and looked down at the floor briefly. Then he looked up, looking like he was going to deny it but then squeezed his eyes shut for a second. When he opened them, he looked at her, nodded and then back at the floor, his eyes tightly shut.

What she said next stunned him. "Oh thank goodness!  I thought you'd put me in uh the friend zone as Ezekiel calls it.  I don't know if I'm quite uh in love with you yet. But I'd like to be.  I mean, I'd like to find out if we could be in love.  Date you . . .um, Jacob?"

Jacob started laughing. Then he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into him. "Darlin' I get it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he grinned. "So that guy in the coffee shop?"

"He was cute and sweet.  And I might have called him if there wasn't a you.  But there is. And I'd like there to be an us. Or try?  Would that be okay?"

"Absolutely," Stone said.  And then he kissed her.

The End


	8. Flannel Shirt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is for megansarah11 who wanted "flannel shirt"

"Um, guys?" Cassandra's tone sent a chill through Stone's spine. That was her "something is really wrong but I'm trying to not scream so I'm playing it cool" tone.

Cassandra had been bringing up the rear with he and Baird up front.  They both turned around at the tone and gasped.  Somehow the machinery had been turned on . . .and what was worse is that Cassandra appeared to be stuck on it.

"Cassandra!" Baird shouted, running forward.   Stone remained glued to the spot,  shock rendering him incapable of moving.  Cassandra did scream then as she was unable to keep her footing and was being sucked forward.

"What happened?" Baird yelled, trying to pull her off the machine.

"I tripped I think," Cassandra struggled but that just made things worse.

"Don't move," Baird urged her.  Baird gave another tug and then yelled at her colleague. "Stone! Get over here!"

Stone shook his head as if to clear his spell of panic and raced forward.  He quickly accessed the situation, there was no visible switch on the machinery to shut it down. It probably had a failsafe but he had no idea how to trigger it. It was best to get Cassandra out.

"Ouch!" Cassandra managed to get her hair out of the machinery but her clothes were still stuck.

"Okay, okay, we have to pull her out," Stone said, grabbing onto Cassandra's waist with one hand and digging a pocket knife out of his jeans. He tossed it to Baird and  yelled over the machine noise. "You might have to cut her out."

Baird nodded and they worked together to free the redhead. Cassandra let out the briefest of whimpers as she heard her blouse tear off and then Baird had to cut the sweater off of her to finally free her.

She stood, mostly safe,  a little sore because Stone hadn't been able to be gentle with her and a small cut on her hand from freeing her hair.  She was blushing because she was standing in front of them, wearing basically rags.  Even the camisole she had on under her blouse had a rip in it.

Stone was trying to avoid looking at her especially since her lacy red bra was on display.  He looked over at Baird who looked sad.  Baird only had blouse on, not a jacket or sweater that could be loaned to the other woman.  Without a word, he unbuttoned his flannel shirt and shrugging it off, held it out to Cassandra.  He shivered when the air hit his thin undershirt but better him than Cassandra catching cold.

Cassandra thanked him, but still looked embarrassed.  She also . . .Stone had to suck in a deep breath when she'd gotten the shirt on.  He'd always had a thing about a woman wearing his shirt. But on Cassandra?  All he could think of suddenly was that red bra and a Sunday morning and her in his kitchen wearing his shirt.  Which would be all well and good if they were actually a couple where that scenario was possible.

She was staring at him and flushed red anew.  Was he that obvious? Was she reading his thoughts?

Baird cleared her throat. "Come on, we don't have much time."

Neither he nor Cassandra had any time to change.  They were too busy saving the world.  There came that point in a mission where one of them had to do something dangerous in order to save the rest as well as a whole lot of other people.  This time it was Stone's turn to do that.  He and Cassandra were alone, making the last preparations before he had to face his destiny.

She walked over to him, intending to say goodbye.  But all that came out was a shaky "Jacob . . ." and then suddenly they were kissing.  Wet and hard, passionate and desperate but with just a tiny bit of sweetness and something else.  As he broke away with a whispered, "see you on the other side, Cassie." Cassandra realized what the emotion was: hope.

They left her alone after the explosion.  She stood in the control room where Jacob had kissed her goodbye, her nose pressed into his shirt, breathing in his scent.  She was trying not to cry.  He had to have made it.  Ezekiel and Colonel Baird would find him.  It would all be fine.

But as the minutes ticked by and there was no word . . . .

She found the tears dripping down her cheeks, wetting the fabric.  Once they started, she couldn't stop them and she sobbed.  It wasn't fair, she and Jacob never had a chance. She was supposed to go first. It wasn't fair!

Then suddenly through the haze of tears, she thought she saw someone come in the room. She went to wipe her eyes, not wanting Baird or Jones to see her like this.

But then she heard a rough voice, "hey now, that's my favorite shirt."

"Jacob?" she wiped her eyes and there he was.  Banged up, filthy, but alive. So alive.  And she didn't care if he was covered in ashes, she ran into his waiting arms.

"We're getting your shirt all dirty," she whispered, finally lifting her head from his shoulder where she'd had it resting as he held her tightly.

"I don't care," he whispered back, moving so he could kiss her. "And keep it. I have a feeling that won't be the only shirt of mine you ever wear."

Cassandra blushed but giggled softly before leaning back in for another kiss.  And that feeling of hope grew. It was going to be just fine.

The End


	9. Ghost Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is for jakexcassie who wanted "ghost stories."

It was a Friday and Cassandra was in the midst of dressing for a date with her boyfriend when said boyfriend called her.

There was certain amount of regret in his voice, "sorry darlin' but we've got a case."

"Well, occupational hazard I guess," Cassandra sighed setting aside the dress she was going to wear. "What's the case?"

"We're investigating a ghost sighting at Dalhousie Castle in Scotland."

"Aren't ghost stories Ezekiel's department?" Cassandra frowned, suddenly a little put out. This sounded like a plan by Jones to keep her and Stone from their anniversary dinner.

"Yeah, well, he's off in Turkey or something. Besides, we all know they're never ghosts.  But, Cassie?"

"Yeah?"

"We're gonna have to do a little undercover blending in, so dress up. And pack a bag, we might need to stay overnight to see the haunting."  Stone's voice on the last sounded like he was rolling his eyes which made her giggle.

"Well, okay I can wear the dress I was gonna wear tonight then."

"I'm real sorry, I'll make it up to you. I was lookin' forward to this date too. But you get to see the suit anyway."

"Well, we'll make the most of it. See you in a few."

Cassandra had to admit that Dalhousie Castle was exceedingly romantic as they entered via a side room and mingled in with people attending a party.  But two things were bothering her.  No one seemed upset or curious like she expected a haunted place to be.  Of course, haunted castles in Europe were more a tourist curiosity than anything else so maybe people were just used to the tales?  And Jacob seemed nervous.  Which was very odd given that it was never ghosts and he was usually up for anything.  He parted from her for a moment, saying he wanted to ask a question of a witness. That was odd too as they usually worked together.  He'd asked her to look at a painting for clues but again . . .  that was his department.  A few moments later he came back and took her hand.

"Alright, I have a location for the latest sighting, so let's go check it out.  That's the manager, he's gonna let us in."

They walked a ways into what was the hotel part of the castle.  Cassandra didn't really question it, it wasn't like ghosts or other magical beings were beyond hanging out in guest rooms.   She did find it slightly odd when she swore she saw Jacob hand the manager some cash as he turned and left them. Though every once in a while, they did have to bribe someone, the Library's magic didn't always work.

They were standing in a beautiful suite. Candles were lit on a table and there were roses and champagne.  Were they in someone's room? But Cassandra's eyes started to widen as she looked around the room and back to Jacob. He was looking at her, not for clues.  They weren't in someone's room.

"Jacob?" she asked softly. "There aren't any ghosts are there?"

"No," he shook his head. "Jenkins helped me plan a romantic weekend as surprise. That's why I had you pack."

"Wow, this is gorgeous, Jacob!" she grinned in delight spinning around.

"There's one more thing," Jacob took something out of his jacket pocket. She stopped spinning to look and gasped when she realized it was a small box.  He opened it to show off an antique square diamond ring. "Will you marry me, Cassandra?"

Cassandra squealed, arms around his neck.  There would have been hesitation a year ago when they started dating. But she knew him, knew this was real and for as long as their forever was.  "Yes, yes I will."

The End


End file.
